Friday, December 10, 2010

The Nonfiction Reading List

I was just reading this post over at HTMLGIANT and it occurred to me that I've seen a lot of these lists for fiction, but I've seen very few nonfiction equivalents (and, to be honest, those lists all seemed fairly inadequate in terms of variety of styles/gender/ethinicity/nationality/etc).

Anyway, the last week of my nonfiction workshop is next week and I'm going to try and compile some type of master reading list over the next few days to give them all as a going away present. With that said, I'm not nearly as well read as some of y'all here and I'm wondering: what books you would include if you were making a list that adequately covers the entire spectrum of creative nonfiction?

Post your lists/ideas in the comments section or email me and I'll make a master list that I can share with anyone who's interested.

As a bit of a follow-up, I'm curious as to what others see as the value of these lists. True, I'll be giving one out to my class in the next few days, but I'm still not sure whether or not this is a good idea on my part.

Can a list be too long and be more daunting than empowering? Is it wrong to submit a list when I myself haven't read all the books?

I head to the lists to find new (or new to me) books. I also enjoy tracking whoever's showing up on lists for a given year, and watching the names morph between different lists...like there's a collective at work and always changing pieces here and there.

When I hand out lists to classes I usually give them 15 or so book titles that are currently on my mind for a given genre...new things I like, standards I've found to be good models, etc. I try to make it as random as possible with the hope that a student will follow a lead somewhere and come up with their own wacky list someday. As a student, I never took a list to heart or got past a couple recommendations before wandering off in another direction.

I guess I still follow that model...pick and choose, not stick to any particular list for very long.

As a student, I always resented lists. Nothing infuriated me more: not only am I am slow (but dedicated) reader, but the instructor actually has the audacity to give me a list of things to read *after* class is over. I figure that if it is truly important for me to read, it'd be taught in class. This is almost using power coercively, manipulatively. Not all students will care.

However, if you want an excellent list, perhaps consider the twenty-three "Ten Greatest Essays, Ever" lists on essayprize.org.

And, as far as listing goes, I think there is something here to be said for the "list essay"....

Interesting that a student would resent a list of good books. ***I know it's too late for your purposes, but I would add:Diane Ackerman, a natural history of the sensesEllen Meloy, anthropology of turquoiseKristin Hersh, rat girland Barbara Kingsolver, animal, vegetable, miracle

What We Do Here

Essay Daily is a space for conversation about essays & essayists, contemporary and not. We mostly publish critical/creative engagements with essays (text and visual), Q&As, and reviews of essays, books, collections, or journals.